SCCM Resource Library-I Want to Be an Ally: What Do I Do?

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for taking some time out of your day to listen to my talk today on being an ally.  So today I'm going to be talking to you about what it means to be an ally, along with some simple steps that you can take in order to do that.  By the end of my talk today, you should be able to describe strategies for functioning as an ally to women, underrepresented minorities, and LGBTQ patients and colleagues.  Before I get started with my talk, I'll just let you know that I have nothing to disclose related to the content of this presentation.  So before I talk about how you can be an ally, I want to make sure that I give you a definition of allyship in the context of social justice.  So an ally is a member of a dominant privileged group who works alongside and in solidarity  and partnership with those that are less privileged in an active process to dismantle systems and beliefs which challenge the ability of marginalized people or groups to thrive in  society, and that ally transfers the benefits of their privilege to those who lack it. So as you can tell from this definition, it's an active process, and in addition, being  in a dominant or privileged group can be a relative term, and it could also be situational. So at some point you might be an ally, while at other times you're actually looking to  others for allyship. In addition, privilege can come in many forms, and it's often due to systemic biases and structural inequities.  So there are a couple of important steps in being an ally. So being an ally means that you have to unlearn, reevaluate, and learn again.  It also means that you have to engage in the process of active listening and having hard conversations.  In addition, you want to make sure that you're being authentic rather than simply just being performative.  And in addition, it's a difficult process, and no one is perfect, and throughout the process of being an ally, you can definitely expect to make mistakes, and that's okay.  So I'm going to talk about each of these aspects of being an ally in turn. The first aspect of being an ally that I want to focus on is the process of questioning,  unlearning, and relearning. So this can be a difficult process, and it's often uncomfortable, but it's really important to question what you think you know.  For example, much of what we think we know in medicine was derived by studying populations that were predominantly white, often mostly male, and cisgendered.  What we're starting to see is that many of the differences observed in other populations often have roots in being disadvantaged or less privileged, rather than simply being  an aspect of race or other forms of identity. So there is a lot in medicine that we need to start reexamining, for example.  But as you start to look into these things and start reexamining and relearning, be curious, but don't rely too heavily on those that are part of a marginalized group to be the ones  responsible for educating you. Doing so can lead to a phenomenon known as cultural taxation, in which members of marginalized  or disadvantaged groups are often those that are looked upon to do the hard work within social justice and other DEI initiatives.  And while they might want to be involved in this type of work, if we rely too heavily on them and ask them to do much of this work, for example, say a colleague comes to you  and wants to change the culture in your ICU because they feel like women are being treated  unfairly, and you ask them to create a committee to do that work, just be careful that having them serve on that committee, having them chair that committee, for example, doesn't  come at the cost of other opportunities that might actually be more beneficial in terms of progressing them in their careers and their own professional goals.  So again, that's cultural taxation, and it's something that you definitely would want to strive to avoid.  So one of the ways in which an effective ally can learn and relearn things is through engaging in the process of active listening and having hard conversations.  However, before you do so, remember it's important to ask for permission to have those conversations,  especially when you're asking for those conversations from those that are from underrepresented or marginalized groups.  As long as you have their permission, another thing that you can do with your privilege is use that privilege to amplify marginalized voices.  This often means giving them a platform in which to express their opinions and raise their voices.  In addition, if you see something, say something, and again, this can be uncomfortable, it can  be a hard process, but it's definitely necessary in order to affect change in this area. Being an effective ally also means being authentic and avoiding being performative.  Being performative is rhetorical, it's words or symbols without action. I use myself and my own social media presence as an example here, and I'm not trying to  insult anyone that might have Facebook or other social media banners such as I'm showing here, but if you're doing this without authentic action, then you are unfortunately guilty  of being performative. So performative allyship can hinder the work of genuine social justice, it maintains the  status quo, and performative allies often profess support in order to prevent their own actions from being scrutinized.  So think about this the next time you are worried about whether or not you are not translating your symbols and words into action. What have you done about it?  What are you willing to do about it? And more importantly, are you willing to take a risk?  Are you willing to truly transfer your privilege and your power to someone from a marginalized or underrepresented group? Are you willing to speak up for them and take action?  Finally, as you engage in being an effective, authentic ally, you should expect to make mistakes.  To err is human, obviously, and you will make mistakes, so when you do make those mistakes, you should own them.  In addition, be open to constructive criticism, especially when someone from an underrepresented or marginalized group is the one that is giving you that constructive criticism.  So when that happens, acknowledge your limits. In addition, when you make mistakes, you should apologize when necessary.  In the end, I think we can all realize that often making errors, making mistakes, is one of the best ways in which we learn and grow.  So own those mistakes again, and it will help you as you work towards being an effective and authentic ally. Aspects of being an authentic and effective ally.  I'll let you know that many who work in the areas of DEI and social justice argue that we actually need to go beyond being an ally.  So I thought, what better way to explain this concept than to start with some voices who are more effective and better than mine at expressing this concept.  The first is a quote from Ta-Nehisi Coates, and they argue that I think one has to even abandon the phrase ally and understand that you are not helping someone in a particular  struggle. That the fight is yours, meaning that you have to be willing to take on that fight as your own.  Roxane Gay also explains it in that we need people to stand up and take on the problems born of oppression as their own, without remove or distance.  We need people to do this even if they cannot fully understand what it's like to be oppressed  for their race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion, or other marker of identity.  So you may be asking yourself, okay, well, you just taught me or talked about what it means to be an ally, and now you're telling me that it's not enough.  And in many ways, this is true. Within the realm of social justice, many are now starting to use the terms and describe  this process in terms of being active and taking on the struggle and fight as your own as more akin to being either an accomplice or an advocate.  And those words often take on a little bit more of an active meaning and sort of convey to people that you're part of the struggle.  And so, again, this is sort of the direction that many are taking now in describing what is necessary in order to be effective in this realm and amplify and help out and transfer  your privilege. I thought the best way to sort of convey what it means to be more than just an ally was to do so with a story. And so this is the story illustrated in this picture.  This is the story of Brie Newsom and James Tyson. Brie Newsom climbed the flagpole at the South Carolina State House as part of the protests  that her group was doing as they were trying to get the Confederate flag removed from areas like the South Carolina State House.  And what happened in this situation is that when the police approached and threatened to use a taser on the flagpole in order to get her down, meaning they would have touched  this electrical current to the flagpole, and that could have shocked her while she was up on the flagpole and she could have obviously fallen 30 feet after being shocked, James  Tyson, who you can see illustrated in this picture wearing the yellow vest, was another activist in this group, and as you can tell, was a white, in this case I will call him,  accomplice. And what he did was actually quite remarkable, even though it was such a simple action.  But what he did was he physically touched the pole so that if the police had touched the pole with the taser while Brie was climbing it to take down the flag, he would have also  been shocked. So putting his white body in harm's way prevented police from using the taser on the flagpole.  Unfortunate that that's the case, and they were willing to do it to her, but not once this white man touched it.  But ultimately I think that this story, this anecdote, illustrates this concept of being more than an ally, being an accomplice or an advocate, because ultimately James's actions  on this day and in this situation may have prevented Brie from being seriously injured or worse.  So think about this the next time you are wondering what it is you can do and what you're willing to do.  This is an extreme example where this advocate or accomplice put his own safety on the line. So ask yourself if you would have done the same in this same situation.  So now in summary, I'll leave you with some resources and references that I found helpful  as I started to look into what it means to be not only an ally but an accomplice or generally speaking an advocate.  So I encourage you in your process of questioning, unlearning and learning to look at these resources  because again, I find that they're very helpful and might help you in your journey to becoming a better ally. And with that, I thank you for listening and have a great day.

Video Summary

In this talk, the speaker discusses the importance of being an ally in social justice efforts and provides steps to become an effective ally. They define an ally as a member of a privileged group who works alongside marginalized individuals to dismantle oppressive systems and transfer their privilege. The speaker emphasizes the need to unlearn and relearn biases, engage in active listening and hard conversations, avoid performative allyship, and accept and learn from mistakes. They also highlight the concept of going beyond allyship to become an accomplice or advocate, illustrated through the story of Brie Newsom and James Tyson. The talk concludes with suggested resources for further learning.

Asset Subtitle

Administration, 2022

Asset Caption

Although we are making strides in advancing women and other underrepresented groups in critical care medicine, a lot of work remains to be done. The first step in this process is providing education to trainees in all disciplines on gender and inclusivity. Furthermore, identifying the barriers to achieving parity paves the way to a structured approach for removing these barriers. This session is aimed at creating awareness and providing education on the existing gender culture in critical care medicine and strategies for enhancing inclusivity.

Meta Tag

Content Type Presentation

Knowledge Area Administration

Knowledge Level Foundational

Knowledge Level Intermediate

Knowledge Level Advanced

Membership Level Select

Tag Professional Development

Tag Workforce

Year 2022

Keywords

ally

social justice

oppressive systems

privileged group

active listening

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